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Monday, May 20, 2013

I can't believe it's been two weeks since the last time I blogged! I have been so crazy busy lately with getting books ready for this summer. I hope you'll all forgive me. *crosses fingers*

Today, I have a little treat (at least, I hope you think so). From YA Contemporary Fantasy about a 14 year old albino girl who's really a unicorn:

Health class alternated
with gym every other day, so today was beyond horrible because not only did I have
to see Bucked-Tooth Bucky again, I couldn't even kick his ass playing ball. The
room was only half-filled when I stepped through the door. Two-seated desks
formed three rows and each desk had a little note card in front of each seat.

I picked up the card on the table closest to the door
and saw the name, Justin Adams. The one next to his was Chris Avery.

Assigned seats. Great.

My seat was in the middle
row, directly behind the teacher's desk. I didn't even bother to see who'd be
doomed to sit next to me. Obviously their day was about to get a whole lot
worse.

When Bucky strolled through the doorway, I suddenly
realized I did care who'd be sitting next to me. I absolutely cared. I tried to
think back to the name the coach had called out during roll call yesterday, but
I couldn't remember a thing. It would really be my luck if his last name
started with a "G."

Bucky started walking my way and I knew--just knew--with that sinking in the pit of my
stomach feeling that his name was on the card next to mine. I closed my eyes
and held my breath. Heat swam through my brain. I wished with every molecule in
my body that he'd just walk on by; go somewhere else.

I felt him brush past me and I exhaled the breath I'd
been holding in. The seat at the desk behind me scraped across the floor. Still
close, but at least he wasn't going to be my partner for the entire school
year.

Just then, someone pulled out the seat next to me and
sat down in a huff. I peered out the corner of my eye and saw fire red hair.

"Thank goodness for people who can't read,"
the girl in the seat said.

I felt her staring at me, like what she'd just said
she'd actually said to me and was now waiting for an answer. I dug through my
brain and pulled out the most intelligent thing I could muster. "Uh...yeah."

She laughed and crumpled the note card into a ball.
"Everyone's right. You are
quiet."

I cringed. Yup, everyone was right about everything
about me.

"Well, that's okay," she said. "I used
to be quiet too. Now I just don't give a damn."

I did the unthinkable then. I turned my head and
looked at her. I'd been right about her hair. It was fire red, but only the
tips. The rest was bright orange all the way from her roots, darkening all the
way to red at the ends. It was so--different. And I liked it.

I liked it a lot.

She smiled and shook her head at me, her brown eyes
widened in... Appreciation? Awe? "Oh
man, you're eyes are so awesome.

Friday, May 3, 2013

In preparation for ALMOST NIGHT's August release, I'll be regularly posting some sneak peeks, audio bits, character pics, and all sorts of other cool stuff.

I hope you enjoy!

This one's from Lilly's POV:

"Mom's sun-stained
submarine gray Tempo pulled up to the curb at the front of Bethlehem High. Kids
milled around the sprawling manicured lawn. They all looked pretty excited to
be there--chatting in groups and laughing. I recognized quite a few of them
from my middle school, but I knew there would be plenty of kids who had yet to
experience the shock of my face. Of course, the town wasn't that big. A very
small city, really. If I'd ever actually gone out in public, this moment might
not have seemed so much like torture.

I pulled out my hot pink barrette and fluffed my hair
around my face to hide my eyes. But then
as the wisps of snow white hair fell in my peripheral vision, I decided to pull
all the strands back again. There was no
way to limit the shock.

I groaned and opened the passenger door to step out.
Might as well just get it over with."